OOT bags - When to give them to your guests?

[mizpriya]

See I agree with Peach and not all resorts will accept packages sent in advance. So I am playing it safe coz the last thing you want is all your hard work and money to disappear when you try to ship it. MsFoxxy... do you know if your resort has had an reviews on stuff getting shipped to them? Maybe something to think about too coz you wouldn't want that to be something to worry about too!
 

Originally Posted by Peach 

I have heard of this being done, and think it would be very nice. HOWEVER, I personally have heard way too many stories of things being shipped going missing. I would rather keep things with me as much as possible. With my luck, something would go wrong for sure. Of course, that could just be the control freak in me.
 

 

 

Originally Posted by MsFoxxy 

I definitely plan on shipping ours to our planner at the resort before the wedding so that they can give them out either at the front desk or place them in the rooms.  I plan on using priority mail with tracking so I can be sure that the package gets there.  I have too much other stuff that I'm bringing down in my luggage to be worried about OOT bags too.  )

 

[MsFoxxy]

My planner told me that they will store anything I ship for the wedding, but anything over 1 box, there's a $10 charge for.  I've talked to a few other St. Thomas brides who didn't have any issues shipping things before their wedding.  Maybe it helps that it's a U.S. Territory, I don't know.. but everyone I've talked to hasn't had any missing packages.  The only thing negative I've heard was that it took a long time for the package to arrive when not using Priority mail.  I figure it will be cheaper to ship than to check an extra bag... plus, airlines lose bags all the time too.  So either way there's always a risk. 

[vickib]

We will be hosting a Pre-Wedding Mexican Fiesta prior to us leaving.  We plan on giving our guests their bags at the Fiesta!!!

[scooter514]

We are planning to give ours out when we get there. Only giving out 8 bags though so we'll just use the extra room in our luggage on the way back for souvenirs!

[scooter514]

Also thanks to everyone for sharing what you all are doing. It's great to read how different, yet similar, everyone's destination wedding turns out.

[mizpriya]

Yes this is all helpful. Everyone is doing something different it seems. I want to find out if I can ship it out. We expecting probably 30 to 40 guests....if I had 8 I wouldn't have troube figuring out what to do lol

[alittlerandr]

I really wanted to give mine out at the hotel, but we've got about 50 guests coming and the logistics of packing all of the bags, etc seemed like it would be a huge hassle. Since most of the group is coming from the same area, we've decided to use a few limos to take us to and pick us up from the airport. The plan now is to pick up me and FI first, then we'll be picking up the remaining people at a few stops, and we'll give them their bags when we pick them up. That leaves about 16 that won't be in the limo, so we'll give them out individually at the airport or hotel, depending on their flights.

 

Hopefully it works out as smoothly in my head as it does on paper!

[mizpriya]

Oh that's nice. I don't think I can do that since most people are coming from all over the map...not just from around my area so that might be hard. I think I am gonna keep it simple and get a pack of playing cards with our logo or something on it and then I am in search of beach bag towels....not sure where to get them but we shall see. FI wants to get some t-shirts as well with Cancun, Mexico and then our wedding date so at least they can wear it over and over again.
 

Originally Posted by alittlerandr 

I really wanted to give mine out at the hotel, but we've got about 50 guests coming and the logistics of packing all of the bags, etc seemed like it would be a huge hassle. Since most of the group is coming from the same area, we've decided to use a few limos to take us to and pick us up from the airport. The plan now is to pick up me and FI first, then we'll be picking up the remaining people at a few stops, and we'll give them their bags when we pick them up. That leaves about 16 that won't be in the limo, so we'll give them out individually at the airport or hotel, depending on their flights.

 

Hopefully it works out as smoothly in my head as it does on paper!

 

[jillybeans127]

We are probably going to have about 25 bags so the easiest way to distribute them to our guests will be to have the resort place them in each couples room...but of course this comes with a $5 per bag fee.

[MsFoxxy]

I hadn't thought to ask if there's a fee for giving out our bags... I will definitely contact our coordinator to check.. It doesn't matter, though.  We'll still be letting the resort hand them out regardless of if there is a fee.  Hopefully they will put the bags in the rooms for us.. I was just going to let them give them out at the front desk, but the more I think about it, the better it seems to have the bags already in the room.  Our guests will already be carrying luggage, so the bag being in the room would be better than having something else to carry...